How bad was this thing I did? (2nd dive ever)

[gbf]

As far as this significant other thing goes...

I guy I know told me this is a useful phrase:

"I tell you damn one thing"

followed by whatever you want to do like "I'm going fishing" or "I'm gonna go have a few beers with the boys" or "I'm gonna take my camera on this dive"

Report back. Let us know how that works out for you.

 

[Vuk Milicevic]

For what it's worth, I took a GoPro down with me on my very first dive following certification. We went as far down as 45 feet to observe (from afar) a sunken Boeing 747. I had it mounted on a selfie stick with a strap around my wrist. Since it was my first "real" dive I had the instructor accompany my buddy and I. His premise was that safety comes first and worrying about the camera comes second. Fine by me. We had no issues and it ever became a burden on me or those around me I'd simply collapse it and let it dangle around my wrist while diving. Simple.

 

[Neilwood]

For me I have no issues with someone taking a Gopro etc with them - so long as they can manage the task loading.

My first post cert OW dive was with a guy that had 30+dives more than me but couldn't handle task loading so when it cam to him to navigate his buoyancy would go all to pot and he would rise by 2-3m. Recovered it afterwards but I remember watching him and thinking "I don't ever want to be that kind of diver". The following dive I took my Gopro and got some ok footage and not once did my buoyancy swing anywhere close to his (maybe by a foot or so ).

 

[Cali_diver]

Ummm.. generalize much? I have had terrible dive buddies where no cameras were involved.

Nope just a joke at my own expense! I guess I forgot to put some explanatory emoji to make my point!

 

[kelemvor]

I wouldn't worry the least bit about it. I definitely would not say it was "wrong." I'm curious if your buddy was repeatedly mentioning it because he thought you were actually having/causing a problem but he was trying to be tactful or if he was just one of those "my way or the highway" kind of people. Do you know the guy outside of your dive buddy relationship?

I've definitely seen photogs who are a problem. Even pro or semi pro photographers at blue heron bridge in particular. I've seen amateurs who are a problem too. I've also seen plenty of folks both amateur and pro who were doing just fine. This is an area that is tough to generalize accurately. One thing's for sure, Blue Heron Bridge is an easy to access site with tons of critters. You will always see lots of cameras at that dive site. It is one dive site that I would always bring a camera to if I were going.

I sometimes carry a camera, and when I do I make a huge effort to not be in the way of other divers, not damage the reef etc. Unfortunately that means I almost never get any video worth sharing.. It is a tough balancing act in my opinion. The nice thing about gopro is you can mount the thing on yourself (head, bcd, wrist, you name it) and just about forget it if you want. You might only get a tiny ammount of usable video and none of it is going to be shared on natgeo.com but it can be a good way to remember your dives.

 

[tdallen]

Did I mention that this buddy is the woman I've been romantically involved with for 5 years?

Oh, then you're screwed. Tell her you happened to mention it online, you got chewed out by a lot of experienced divers, you're sorry, etc. Then sneak it along next time, too, because you don't want to be too predictable .

Seriously, I think diving well is harder than it looks and is worth most of your concentration at first.

 

[J322Y]

I wouldn't worry the least bit about it. I definitely would not say it was "wrong." I'm curious if your buddy was repeatedly mentioning it because he thought you were actually having/causing a problem but he was trying to be tactful or if he was just one of those "my way or the highway" kind of people. Do you know the guy outside of your dive buddy relationship?

I've definitely seen photogs who are a problem. Even pro or semi pro photographers at blue heron bridge in particular. I've seen amateurs who are a problem too. I've also seen plenty of folks both amateur and pro who were doing just fine. This is an area that is tough to generalize accurately. One thing's for sure, Blue Heron Bridge is an easy to access site with tons of critters. You will always see lots of cameras at that dive site. It is one dive site that I would always bring a camera to if I were going.

I sometimes carry a camera, and when I do I make a huge effort to not be in the way of other divers, not damage the reef etc. Unfortunately that means I almost never get any video worth sharing.. It is a tough balancing act in my opinion. The nice thing about gopro is you can mount the thing on yourself (head, bcd, wrist, you name it) and just about forget it if you want. You might only get a tiny ammount of usable video and none of it is going to be shared on natgeo.com but it can be a good way to remember your dives.

Thanks for the reply.

It's not a guy, and I've been "knowing her" on a regular basis for five years...

That obviously complicates the issue, but I wanted to hear some objective opinions that weren't based on relationship issues. I pretty much got the full range of reactions, so not sure what to think.

She's been diving for many years, and she's the one who encouraged me to take up diving. I think at least part of it is that she falls into the conservative camp who say leave the camera alone until you're more experienced. There's probably more to it, but I can leave the camera behind when I'm with her.

I appreciate everyone's input.

I dove Alexander Spring today, with a guy buddy. Took that damn camera with me too!

You can manually change the resolution to 1080 if it plays at a lower rate}

 

[Lorenzoid]

Ok, I'm am an older guy. I wish folks would work on their diving skills before they would bring a camera or video recorder. Digital has just made it too easy for everyone. Ok, back to the regularly scheduled program.

When I started diving, it was instilled in me--not just by being told but more just by observing photographers--that underwater photography was for people with hundreds and hundreds of dives, and maybe I too would get there--someday. This is still embedded deep in my brain, even though the logical part of my brain knows full well that a GoPro--which didn't exist back then--doesn't require nearly the skills that a full-sized camera rig does. (Maybe today's new divers are just more skilled than I was--I think I was the king of flopping all over the place--but that's another thread.)

My formative years have actually been somewhat of a curse, because although I have a GoPro I am ridiculously reluctant to bring it with me, even with hundreds of dives under my belt. I have brought it to Blue Heron Bridge and some other easy dives. I recently did a wreck dive that was deep (for me) and cold (for me), and although I really wanted to film it, I just felt handling even a simple GoPro might have been too much for me. But I will often leave the GoPro behind even if the only new thing is my lack of familiarity with a dive site. I wish I had more confidence.

 

[scubadada]

When I started diving, it was instilled in me--not just by being told but more just by observing photographers--that underwater photography was for people with hundreds and hundreds of dives, and maybe I too would get there--someday. This is still embedded deep in my brain, even though the logical part of my brain knows full well that a GoPro--which didn't exist back then--doesn't require nearly the skills that a full-sized camera rig does. (Maybe today's new divers are just more skilled than I was--I think I was the king of flopping all over the place--but that's another thread.)

My formative years have actually been somewhat of a curse, because although I have a GoPro I am ridiculously reluctant to bring it with me, even with hundreds of dives under my belt. I have brought it to Blue Heron Bridge and some other easy dives. I recently did a wreck dive that was deep (for me) and cold (for me), and although I really wanted to film it, I just felt handling even a simple GoPro might have been too much for me. But I will often leave the GoPro behind even if the only new thing is my lack of familiarity with a dive site. I wish I had more confidence.

I didn't mean to go overboard with my comment, I would be satisfied with a happy medium, reasonable dive skills before taking a camera. I'm sure the dive industry is quite pleased with the uptake of digital cameras and video recorders.

 

[J322Y]

When I started diving, it was instilled in me--not just by being told but more just by observing photographers--that underwater photography was for people with hundreds and hundreds of dives, and maybe I too would get there--someday. This is still embedded deep in my brain, even though the logical part of my brain knows full well that a GoPro--which didn't exist back then--doesn't require nearly the skills that a full-sized camera rig does. (Maybe today's new divers are just more skilled than I was--I think I was the king of flopping all over the place--but that's another thread.)

My formative years have actually been somewhat of a curse, because although I have a GoPro I am ridiculously reluctant to bring it with me, even with hundreds of dives under my belt. I have brought it to Blue Heron Bridge and some other easy dives. I recently did a wreck dive that was deep (for me) and cold (for me), and although I really wanted to film it, I just felt handling even a simple GoPro might have been too much for me. But I will often leave the GoPro behind even if the only new thing is my lack of familiarity with a dive site. I wish I had more confidence.

I get that. I understand being conservative about diving safety and etiquette.

My thought was that since was in 10 feet if water over a sand bottom with no other divers around except my buddy, that I could handle the relatively simple task of this point/shoot camera.

I'm curious what the response would have been if I had used the camera in the same way while snorkeling...